Midnight (or slightly after midnight) runs can be had in Norway’s Lyngen Alps.
LYNGEN ALPS
RECOMMENDED BY Kelly Holland
To many, Norway’s finest alpine skiing moment may have come in 1994 at Lillehammer, when the town a bit north of Oslo hosted the Winter Olympics. Kelly Holland’s finest skiing moment in Norway came almost seven hundred miles north among the fjords of the Lyngen Alps, where few resorts and no gondolas—or even rope tows—awaited her.
“I was in Europe a lot that year, ski racing, as Peak Performance, a Swedish company, was my main sponsor,” Kelly recalled. “I was participating in a big competition at Riksgränsen in Sweden, and a photographer friend of mine was planning to go up to northern Norway to do a story on skiing in the midnight sun. A writer friend was scheduled to go along, but he had to cancel at the last minute. As I was already in Scandinavia, I got the opportunity to take his place. My interest was piqued. Getting a chance to ski above the Arctic Circle was unique in itself. Since it was June, we’d have twenty-four-hour sunshine at that latitude, which was always intriguing. When the competition was done, we got in a car and drove north toward the village of Lyngseidet.”
Lyngseidet sits on the peninsula of Lyngen in the county of Troms, at the northwest corner of Norway—some two hundred miles above the Arctic Circle (latitude 66.56 degrees, if you’re counting). In this part of the world, fingers of land separated by fjords (formed by glaciers) stick out into the Arctic Ocean. Much of the fjordland has spines of mountains that climb from sea level to heights of three, four, or five thousand feet. Clad in snow much of the year, these seaside mountains yield a stunning contrast of bright blue and shimmering white, especially in the season of the Midnight Sun. The Lyngen Alps stretch approximately sixty miles along the western shore of the Lyngen Peninsula; the highest peak here is Store Lenangstind, which tops out at 5,328 feet. Not so terribly high … unless you have to skin your way to the top!
“Lyngseidet was a hidden gem,” Kelly continued. “We found a little inn that looks out on the fjord. On our first afternoon, we were served shrimp cocktails on the front porch, with the sea in front of us and steep mountains behind. There’s not much of a skiing infrastructure around Lyngen. We scoped things out the first day we were in town, speaking to a number of locals, to get a sense of how to make our way around. You can drive around the peninsula pretty easily and scope out lines from the road. The mountains really explode upward right from the water’s edge. Eventually, we tracked down a guy named Froda who knew enough to lead us to some spots. We couldn’t help but think of Lord of the Rings.” (Note: Since Kelly’s visit, several guide services have begun operating around Lyngseidet. Several outfitters offer combination sailing/skiing adventures where you sleep on a live-aboard boat and sail around the fjords from mountain to mountain.)
Kelly and her companions began their ascent in the early evening. “We put skins on our skis and began following Froda up one of the mountains, not far from our inn,” she continued. “It was super shady on that side of the mountain, thus very icy. At one point, I mentioned that I thought we should have crampons; in fact, one member of our party did fall, and slid all the way to the bottom, but fortunately we weren’t too far up at that point. After a few hours, we reached a flat ridge that was out of the shade. The snow was nice and soft here. We toured around the ridge for a while. We had magnificent views of the ocean, and the alpenglow was incredible. Though it was almost midnight, the sun was still up, a glowing orange ball low on the horizon. There was plenty of light; it seemed like it was about five P.M. We began looking for a good way down. Froda didn’t have too much information to offer on this point. ‘I think you’ll be okay if you go that way,’ he said, pointing to the north. Then he left us.
“We toured over to the north side of the mountain, and found a nice slot. The slot was filled with powder all the way down to the valley. Skiing this amazingly soft snow, enveloped by the glow of the midnight sun, was a pretty magical experience. Eventually, the snow ran out, and we had to hike almost three hours through a valley littered with glacial rocks, in our ski boots. By the time we reached the car, it was six A.M. I would sum it up like this: lots of nasty, icy touring, where at times I felt like I was sliding for my life, then a couple hours of amazing snow with the kind of views you don’t get every day.”
Kelly’s tale from the Lyngen Alps—with its highs and lows—would certainly qualify for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Another interesting experience—one that she might not be as eager to duplicate—awaited her in town. “Lyngseidet is not a big tourist town, and I was the token American,” she recalled. “When we went into a little restaurant for lunch, the proprietress was very excited. She said, ‘You must let me make you a whale burger!’ I was game for it. She rushed over to get some fresh whale meat at the butcher, and then prepared it. She proudly served it, and I was excited. But it was the worst thing I’ve ever eaten—and I enjoy meat. I felt very bad that I couldn’t finish it after all her efforts, so I wrapped it in a napkin when she wasn’t looking and put it in my purse.”
KELLY HOLLAND competed on the IFSA World Tour for several years with a couple of top finishes and amazing travels along the way. (“I owe a big thanks to Peak Performance, Oakley Eyewear, Völkl/Tecnica, Lululemon, Alta Ski Resort, and Dakine for all of their help over the years,” Kelly said. “And it should not go unsaid that my parents are at the top of my sponsor list … they’ve always been my biggest support.”) Before joining the IFSA Tour, she spent a couple of years on the U.S. Development Freestyle Ski Team. Kelly retired from professional skiing in 2008 and earned a BS in nursing from Duke University. She presently practices at a hospital near her home in Bozeman, Montana.
If You Go
Getting There: To reach Lyngseidet, you’ll want to fly to Tromsø, which is served by SAS (800-221-2350; www.flysas.com) and Norwegian (+47 2149 00 15; www.norwegian.com). Lyngseidet is about forty miles west of Tromsø by car or bus.
Season: The season in the Lyngen Alps runs from February through June.
Lift Tickets: No tickets are needed (as there are no lifts). If you choose to embark on a guided tour, a week’s trip (which includes lodging, meals, transportation to ski locales, and mountain guides) from Lyngen Lodge (www.lyngenlodge.com) runs 25,500 Norwegian Kroner (around $4,500). Mountain Spirit Guides (www.mountain-spirit-guides.com) also offers guided trips from a base lodge or a sailboat.
Level of Difficulty: Guided trips can be tailored for skiers of intermediate ability (and superior fitness), but only advanced skiers should consider do-it-yourself ventures.
Accommodations: Options around the Lyngen Peninsula are highlighted at www.lyngenalp.no. Some will day trip up from Tromsø (www.visittromso.no), which is a sizable city.
